A tool to assess road interruption due to earthquake-induced collapse of infill walls in RC buildings

This study focused on the assessment of debris generation due to the out-of-plane collapse of exterior masonry infill walls in existing reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings under seismic actions. By means of nonlinear dynamic analyses, the research quantified both the expected volume of debris and its distance from the building façade, under increasing levels of seismic intensity.

This article proposes a new tool for estimating the debris produced by infill wall collapse in reinforced concrete buildings under seismic actions. The tool is based on nonlinear dynamic analyses of buildings with various heights, ages, and infill wall types. It aims to quantify, at increasing levels of seismic intensity, the volumes of collapsed material and the distance this material can project onto nearby roads.